Nerve Damage Blues by Former USPTA Professional Brant Buckley

May 5, 2021 45 Comments

After a career ending on court tennis injury in his foot while teaching, Brant Buckley found strength in writing a song about it called Nerve Damage Blues. Check out a snippet about his beginnings, inspirations, music and tennis.

Brant Buckley

Brant Buckley, a certified musician, is a graduate of Berklee College of Music with a Bachelors of Music in Songwriting, He was born outside of Chicago (Hinsdale), he lived in Costa Rica and spent most of his life in Philadelphia. Apart from these, he’s also a Tennis Pro (USPTA certified), and Kriya Yogi energetic healer of 10 years.

Brant is a Tennis Pro (USPTA certified).

Last 2012, Buckley independently released his first album entitled My Life which was featured in The Times of India (India’s CNN). Brant met bluesman Jesse Graves last 2013. Graves was Philadelphia’s premier bluesman during the 1970s and played with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Hound Dog Taylor, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and Tom Waits. Jesse learned from Reverend Gary Davis and passed on the blues and Native American Spirituality to Brant. In 2014, Brant moved to Chicago last 2014 as he was inspired by Jesse. He wanted to learn more about the blues. Working as a tennis pro, Brant experienced the blues for himself after having a career ending tennis injury. The pain taught him what blues are all about.

Brant’s animated photo

As a contributing author for The American Blues Scene, Brant has over 60 published interviews/reviews. He’s interviewed George Thorogood, Bobby Rush, John Hammond, John Primer, Dick Waterman and Walter Trout. 

Nerve Damage Blues in the tennis court.

Check out a portion of his latest interview from American Blues Scene:

Can you tell us about your new song “Nerve Damage Blues”?

I relocated to Chicago. I was a USPTA certified teaching tennis professional and tennis had been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. I landed a Pro position, teaching tennis, but unfortunately suffered an on the job injury which abruptly ended my tennis days. Over a three-year period of pain, muscle weakness and dejection, I lost my money, my job, and was forced to sell my car. I was miserable. From this dark time I wrote the song, “Nerve Damage Blues.” The lyrics in the song talk about the whole experience. I had the blues so bad I couldn’t even play the blues and I didn’t want anything to do with anyone or anything. Looking back now, the injury was an extreme blessing and it happened for a reason. Going through it taught me what the blues are all about. I must thank the injury for my new musical sound. Real blues are no joke and it’s like Son House said: “The blues ain’t nothing but a low down shaking chill. If you ain’t had em I hope you never will.”

Brant sure does love the tennis court!

To know more about his music, check out the links below:

https://soundcloud.com/brant-buckley/nerve-damage-blues
https://brantbuckley.com/bio

45 thoughts on “Nerve Damage Blues by Former USPTA Professional Brant Buckley”

  1. Well, this is pretty cool! I’ll have to check out his work. Thanks for the heads up on this.

  2. I’m so glad he was able to turn such a negative into such a huge positive. I wish him continued success with his music. I’ll have to go give him a look.

  7. I haven’t heard of this individual, either in tennis or in music. Interesting how he took an injury and turned it into music.

  8. This is so inspiring story. Brant experienced the blues for himself after having a career ending tennis injury. The pain taught him what blues are all about.

  9. I sadly never heard of him! Thank you for sharing his story! Very motivating !

  11. I really love reading about new artists as their stories always encourage me. This was a really good read about Brant Buckley.

  12. Such an inspiration!Thanks for sharing with us.It was really good to know about him.

  13. oh my, He have went though so much , having a career and then sadly ending it thanks to an injury have not stopped him starting another career – what an inspiration

  14. I love that he’s been able to take this sad turn in his tennis life and turn it into a positive in another part of his life. Here’s to much, much more success for him.

  15. So inspiring he looks on his injury as a blessing and reframed his mindset. It’s so easy to stay down and “blue” but he got back up and found another passion.

  17. This must be such a hard thing to come to terms with but his ability to turn this negative into a positive is amazing. What a strong individual.

  18. Thank you for taking the time to write this, it is very beautiful! Well said.

  22. What an awesome guy! So many people would have given up, but he’s shifted his energy to something else that he loves, and I think that’s great.

  23. This was such an inspirational story about Brant Buckley and how he found his strength in music. Lovely writeup!

  25. That’s like facing a challenge and using it as an opportunity to pursue a different endeavor. I hope he achieves success in music.

  26. Very inspiring story! I wish more people will take inspiration from him and turn their lives around. No use in sulking or dwelling on misfortunes. We can and we will find a way to make things better.

  28. I’m very glad he was able to turn what he went through into art. Really a great example of making lemons into lemonade. Keep on keeping on. I also adore these photos.

  30. Happy to know he still found the inspiration to write this beautiful song. So inspiring! Wishing him the best in his music career.

  31. Aaaahhhhh…I’ve read about Brant before. His story is quite inspirational….very few people get to harness beautiful things from the pain they suffered, like he did!

  32. So many athletes suffer injuries that end their playing and never recover from it mentally. Refreshing to find someone who overcame that setback and funneled the experience into music.

  33. That’s a very inspiring story but instead of being discouraged by that event, i think he managed to filled himself with positivity. I have checked the video and i love how witty he narrates everything about his experience…he seems like a fun guy! Not to mention the nice retro vibe to it.

  35. I am playing it right now, and it is really good. I am glad to meet new music artists. Thank you!

  37. He’s an inspiration to many people who are in a similar situation. I guess he is a believer in the adage that when a door closes, another opportunity is set to open.

  38. What an inspiration to others who may have found themselves in similar challenging situations great that he used such a creative medium for telling his story.

  40. That is a very cool song! It’s nice that he was able to come up with something positive to go with his injury. I am always impressed when professional sports players also are musicians.

  41. How inspiring to read about how Brant took his injury and channeled it into another passion. They say when life gives you lemons to make lemonade, and he did it!

  42. Happy to know that he was able to overcome the injury and continue to be productive. Thank you for sharing his music. Will check him out on Spotify too.

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